1-0-1, 1-1-1, 0-0-1: how to read dose timings on a prescription

Indian doctors often write a dose as a row of numbers instead of words. It is quick to write, and chemists read it at a glance. At home, a few days later, it is easy to forget what the doctor said in the room. In a study at a government hospital in Kolkata, 96% of the prescriptions were legible, yet only 40% of the patients had a good grasp of how often to take their medicines. This guide is for patients and their families, for chemists who explain prescriptions across the counter, and for new doctors who want theirs read the way they meant it.

How do you read 1-0-1?

Each number stands for a time of day, always in the same order: morning, afternoon, night. In Hindi that is सुबह, दोपहर, रात. The number says how many tablets or capsules to take at that time, and a 0 means none.

So 1-0-1 is one tablet in the morning, nothing in the afternoon and one at night: twice a day. Some doctors use four places, for morning, afternoon, evening and night (सुबह, दोपहर, शाम, रात), so 1-1-1-1 is four times a day.

These are times of day, not clock times. If a medicine needs exact gaps, such as every 8 or every 12 hours, the doctor should write the hours, and you can always ask.

What every common pattern means, in English and Hindi

The letters in the last column are the short forms that mean the same thing; our guide to prescription abbreviations explains each one and where it comes from.

Before food or after food?

The numbers don’t say. Look for words or letters next to them:

• After food: PC, AF, A/F or “after food”, खाने के बाद. With 1-0-1, that means after the morning meal and after the night meal.
• Before food: AC, BF or “before food”, खाने से पहले. BBF means before breakfast, नाश्ते से पहले.
• Empty stomach: ES or “empty stomach”, खाली पेट.
• With food: खाने के साथ.

It is not a formality. The National Formulary of India (2011 edition) has a table of medicines that should be taken on an empty stomach, the thyroid medicine levothyroxine among them, and another of medicines that should be taken with food, such as the painkillers ibuprofen and diclofenac, to reduce their side effects.

How long before or after? If the prescription doesn’t say, ask. Britain’s standard pharmacy labels, as one NHS trust’s medication guidance sets them out, give a sense of the usual gaps: “Take 30 to 60 minutes before food” for some medicines, and for an empty stomach, “an hour before food or 2 hours after food”. Your doctor may want something different for yours.

Half tablets, syrups and drops

• ½ is half a tablet. ½-0-½ is half in the morning and half at night. Not every tablet can be split, so ask the chemist. Doctors are advised to write “half tablet” in words, because the US ISMP list of error-prone abbreviations records “1/2 tablet” being read as 1 or 2 tablets.
• For a syrup, the amount should be written in ml. “5 ml-0-5 ml” is 5 ml in the morning and 5 ml at night. If a syrup line has numbers but no ml, ask. Measure with the cup or dropper that comes with the bottle: ISMP’s list asks for millilitres because teaspoon and tablespoon get mixed up.
• For drops, the numbers are usually drops, and the line should say where: right eye, left eye or both (RE, LE, BE), or the ear.
• For insulin, the numbers are units. Never guess. The word “units” should be written in full: ISMP’s list records a “U” being read as a zero, so that 4U became 40.

Weekly and alternate-day doses

A few medicines are taken once a week, or every other day. A pattern like 1-0-0 can’t show that, so it has to be written in words beside it: “once a week, every Sunday” (हफ़्ते में एक बार, हर रविवार) or “on alternate days” (एक दिन छोड़कर).

This is where a mix-up can do serious harm. A 2026 case report from New Delhi describes a woman with rheumatoid arthritis who took her once-a-week medicine, methotrexate, every day for five to six days. She developed ulcers in her mouth and on her legs, and her red cells, white cells and platelets all fell (pancytopenia). The authors write that clear instructions for weekly dosing can prevent this error, and that the day of the week belongs on every prescription. The ISMP list adds that “TIW” (three times a week) has been read as three times a day, and “QOD” (every other day) as daily or four times a day.

If you take a weekly medicine, mark the day on the strip or on a calendar, and ask the chemist to write it on the pack.

How many days, and what SOS means

• The number of days usually follows the pattern: “x 5 days”, “5d”, “1 month” (1 महीने तक) or “continue” (लगातार), which means keep taking it until the doctor says otherwise. Ask before you stop early. In the Kolkata study, 59.77% of patients understood the number of days well, against 40% for how often, and the authors suggest that is because the days are written as a number.
• SOS means only when needed (ज़रूरत होने पर), for example for pain or fever. Ask what it is for, the most you can take in a day and how long to wait between doses. WHO’s Guide to Good Prescribing asks doctors to write the maximum dose and the minimum gap whenever a medicine is “as required”.
• STAT means one dose at once (अभी एक बार), usually given in the clinic.

What to ask before you leave

Ask the doctor, and ask the chemist too. In a study of 500 patients in the medicine OPD of a New Delhi public teaching hospital, those whose doctor told them only in writing, and those whose pharmacist didn’t explain the medicines, knew less about them. Seven questions cover most of it:

1. कितनी गोली, कब-कब लेनी है? How many, and at what times?
2. खाने से पहले या खाने के बाद? कितनी देर पहले? Before or after food? How long before?
3. कितने दिन तक लेनी है? For how many days?
4. कोई खुराक छूट जाए तो क्या करें? What if I miss a dose?
5. ठीक लगने पर बंद कर सकते हैं? Can I stop when I feel better?
6. किस चीज़ से परहेज़ करना है? What should I avoid?
7. दोबारा कब दिखाना है? When should I come back?

Here is how that can sound at the counter. It’s an example written for this guide:

For doctors: write the pattern and the words

A pattern is shorthand for the chemist. The patient needs the words as well: “1-0-1, morning and night, after food, for 5 days”, and a line in their own language. Our Hindi phrases for prescriptions cover timing, food, drops, syrups and the next visit.

DrMate Rx, our prescription pad, does this from the shorthand you already type. The line pcm 650 1-0-1 5d af prints with BD (1-0-1), after food and 5 days in their own columns, the total of 10 tablets worked out, and a Hindi line for the patient: “1 गोली, दिन में दो बार, खाने के बाद, 5 दिन तक” (1 tablet, twice a day, after food, for 5 days). The patient also gets the prescription on a private link, in Hindi or English, to open again at home. If you would rather talk than type, the doctor’s room drafts the prescription from the consultation for you to approve.